>> all today's valuables are in servers in the cloud

Hmmm...I'd check to see what's actually on your "local" cell phone then.

>> if you're able to access the communication wiring, you probably can just reach in and grab the strike wiring too and supply 24v to it to open the door

Hammer? Check.
3x 9V batteries in series? Check.

However, it's still more work than just tailgating someone with your arms full of lunch and a laptop...

>> giant database...never be hacked

"Data warehouses" and "big data" have all these problems. I remember a big data security talk where the conclusion was basically "well there's a handful of half-baked solutions for the biggest platforms, but no one actually uses them."

In my corporate experience, data warehouse and big data projects happen when an executive gets annoyed with the slow progress of IT and basically dumps out the contents of a few databases into an almost-impossible-to-secure bowl of soup. As a resident security guru I frequently developed a blind spot for these executive disasters: reporting or trying to audit them usually led to career pain.

>> bacteria responsible for the common cold

Dear Dice employee: your attempt to monetize SlashDot has failed and the site is for sale. You no longer have to tryhard-interact with the geeks you are attempting to "monetize" on this site. Please return to "Yahoo Answers" or the like whenever you feel like writing comments like this here. Sincerely, [EveryoneWithAnIDUnder600K]

I can't believe that "Scroll Lock" is used more often than "Caps Lock"

>> least popular keys are...Right Mouse Button

I'm guessing their "developers" don't actually use an IDE. Even on my Mac I use a two-button mouse just to get context-sensitive menus.

>>>> There has to be a better way to take down drones.
>> Sure, just toss a net over it.

With what - a drone?

My Vista laptop...still runs Vista. My XP laptop...still runs XP. My Windows 7 desktops and laptops will run Windows 7 until they die. My Windows 8 tablet will also run Windows 8 until it expires.

Nothing good ever comes from "installing" or "upgrading" a Microsoft operating system in place. It's cheaper (especially in terms of time) to just invest in a new machine and use the current operating system - even if it means reinstalling the "Start" button. (Where would we be without "Classic Shell"?)

>> You could spend all day by the same watering hole with the best scientific instruments and come up with nothing

According to TFA, they DID spend all day by the same watering hole and ended up using the best scientific instruments (really fine filters) to make their discoveries.

>> It used to be that to find new forms of life, all you had to do was take a walk in the woods. Now it's not so simple.

And...if I'm following the TFA, this would still probably yield even more discoveries if a researcher used the same technique.

>> U.S. military needed to accelerate often cumbersome acquisition processes to ensure that it stayed ahead of potential foes

Yes, yes! Open your wallets and support the complex! We cannot afford a LASER GAP to materialize so we must create that gap ourselves!

I hope they don't toss the editors out on the street!

>> A quiet place to work
>> Clear instruction about tasks. Vagueness does not work.
>> No sudden surprises at the work place.
>> Written instructions for work that requires a sequence of tasks. Provide a “pilot’s checklist.”
>> Correct social mistakes in a clear, calm, direct manner. Hints do not work.

I'll bet 7 out of 10 developers would agree with Grandin's requirements for an autistic-friendly business environment.

>> 1) If your codebase is too big, it's going to limit who's going to be able to download your code.
>> 2) There is no good reason in 2015 for a FOSS project to not have public source control. This helps people contribute and determine the health of your project based on the date of the last commit.
>> 3) If your source control has no web viewer and/or no documentation, these two are obvious things to have
>> 4) Code that doesn't build is worse than no code! You need documentation on how to build the project from the source.
>> 5) Use build tools
>> 6) Bundling is not going not be maintainable. Bundling leads to forking.
>> 7) Forcing people to install only in a specific directory

My first thought on reading this is that this guy started coding this year. #1-3 is solved by using GitHub, TFS online or one of the popular choices most FOSS projects already seem to use. (e.g. How would an experienced developer get these problems in the first place?) #4-6 are entry-level build issues. #7 refers to a best practice (let people pick their install directory) that's been commonplace in the industry for at least 15 years.

I see he's employed by Red Hat. Does this list as news suggest that Red Hat's internal development processes are immature too?

>> causing the death of thousands of people abroad

If my background check showed that, I think I'd understand why I was not being hired. :) Stay with the thread (i.e., people get over minor offenses and cultural missteps - even ill-considered tattoos - all the time) and you'll be okay.

>> It wasn't unethical when he did it.

Disagree. It was unethical when I did it. It may not have been illegal yet, and our hospital system (privacy clueless in the era before HIPAA) never told the folks in IT NOT to pry around the databases, medical records or stacks of bills we produced, but poking around people's personal business was still was an unethical invasion of privacy. Fortunately, I've "grown ethics" in the 20-odd years since I was a teenager, and there are better legal and technical deterrents and preventatives to this type of thing now.

>> you're now on record for doing one of the most unethical things imaginable?

Our last three presidents collectively admitted to smoking pot, using cocaine, driving drunk, sleeping around, eating dog and more. Career-wise, I'll be fine.

I'd expect that it's the teenagers who are currently making racist comments on their Facebook feeds that can expect a lifetime of career-aborting revelations.